D. M. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, 4th ed.
RF waves, reference planes and S-parameters.
RF-05
Course overview
VNA measurements: waves, calibration and validation
Measure calibrated complex RF scattering coefficients, trace them to incident and reflected waves and establish trustworthy reference planes, uncertainty and fixture corrections.
5/5available
Prerequisites
- RF-00 — transmission lines
- RF-03 — two-port networks
- RF-04 — scattering parameters and power
Learning goals
- Measure complex incident/outgoing wave ratios with a VNA.
- Choose calibration and identify reference planes.
- Interpret directivity and source/load match errors.
- Quantify measurement uncertainty and separate de-embedding.
Syllabus
VNA measurements: waves, calibration and validation
Measure calibrated complex RF scattering coefficients, trace them to incident and reflected waves and establish trustworthy reference planes, uncertainty and fixture corrections.
- 01→
What a vector network analyzer really measures
Understand coherent source/receiver ratios, calibrated S11/S21, external matching, reflection and insertion loss, port-plane phase, basic three-term calibration, and a reproducible 25 Ω / 50 Ω lab experiment.
220–280 min · Intermediate → advanced · available - 02→
Calibration and RF reference planes
Derive systematic one-port VNA error correction with three standards, compare SOLT and TRL, translate phase/reference planes, and de-embed independently characterized fixture error boxes.
230–290 min · Advanced · available - 03→
SOLT, TRL and multiline TRL: selecting standards
Derive characterized SOLT corrections, Engen–Hoer TRL error-box separation, line-length degeneracy, multiline TRL and verifiable calibration uncertainty, including quantitative 0.5–2 GHz design.
240–300 min · Advanced · available - 04→
Touchstone data, complex phase and measurement uncertainty
Read versioned S-parameter data correctly, convert RI/MA/DB, preserve the direction of S12/S21, derive group delay, and propagate complex measurement uncertainty with reproducible metadata.
220–290 min · Advanced · available - 05→
De-embedding and the complete VNA-to-DUT measurement chain
Use physically characterized error boxes, ordered ABCD inversion and real matched-wave conventions to extract intrinsic device S-parameters with independent numerical validation and uncertainty.
240–310 min · Advanced · available
Scientific references
References
Scattering and wave-normalization references; instrument calibration details are device-specific.
R. E. Collin, Foundations for Microwave Engineering, 2nd ed.
RF waves, reference planes and S-parameters.